All language subtitles for Psychedelica.Series.1.14of14.You.Are.the.Medicine..1080p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

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>> One of the most overlooked
aspects of human ancestry,

whether from shamanic traditions
or simply observing common

behavior throughout history,
is the pursuit of altered

or expanded states of
consciousness through many

various methods.

Many mammals do the same.

And every ancient
and modern culture

has some form of practice
that deliberately

alters the baseline
state of consciousness

that humans operate from.

The fix-it-fast drivers
of modern society

have caused for many
psychonauts to turn

to devices and electronics
to induce or amplify

their favorite expanded and
psychedelic states, placing

a larger wedge between
biology and technology

for future generations.

Ingesting psychedelic
plants might

be the quickest and
most reliable way

to induce such a
mind-bending journey.

However, the full
picture of human history

shows us that there
are many other ways

to experience flow
states of consciousness

and psychedelic-like journeys.

And the debate
about whether or not

the plants or technology
are necessary when

we can create these
experiences from within

has sparked interest in what
each of these categories

might mean for human evolution
over the course of time.

Perhaps this is what
the oldest practices

of yoga and many
other traditions

were meant to evoke--

the natural highs that
exist just under the skin.

>> It's not just the
plants or the sacrament.

It's you.

You are the medicine, and it's
helping reveal that within you.

But essentially, you know,
there's multiple modalities.

The plants are just one way.

There's trance.

There's dance.

There's breathwork.

There's yoga.

There's tantra.

You know, there's so
many different modalities

because all of those things
are essentially getting us

in touch with ourselves.

And our true potential is to
be divine beings incarnated,

is to be connected
to the web of life,

and to be receiving
more of the signal.

>> Most of these methods
are generated by flowy,

repetitious, or
chaotic body movements,

whether performed within
major muscle groups,

breathed within
the chest cavity,

or vocalized with the tiny
muscles in the throat.

Even the endorphins and
other neurochemicals

that are produced internally
through strenuous activity

like sports have been
known to push athletes

into very beneficial
modes of consciousness.

>> Yeah, a natural high is some
of the best highs you can ever

have.

And I find at
least, that through

intense physical
activity and athletics,

I tend to find those
natural highs more

readily than in my daily life--

one of the main reasons why
I still participate so often

in my sports.

>> For me, as a former
collegiate tennis player,

I would experience flow state
when everything was going right

on the court.

A perfect example of
that would be, you know,

you look at a different
sport like basketball

and how you'd see Michael
Jordan during the playoff games

where everything was
just smooth and happened.

The way that many
athletes describe it

is a complete,
effortless experience.

You're in the zone.

>> Some of the highest level
athletes reportedly find

themselves in the zone during
highly intense moments when

training takes over, and the
problem-solving mind gets out

of the way.

In every ancient
or modern culture,

you will not find any
tradition devoid of dance.

All shamanic and
religious origins

utilize dance for meaningful
and ceremonial purposes,

ushering the one dancing to
another plane of consciousness.

>> Dances, in our culture
we say [NON-ENGLISH]..

We say moving energy.

This is different.

Songs, they're communication.

But when you're
dancing, now you're

moving your collective-- well,
if you're individual dance,

you're moving
energy for yourself.

I dance in my backyard.

I can transform my
backyard from what

it was into what it is now,
just by certain dances.

Because you're
creating movements,

there is like geometric designs
that go into the universe

that you just communicated,
I want to create this.

And the universe says, OK.

And then you create it.

Collective dance brings about
change, brings about creating.

And these ancient
civilizations understood

this, where they would create
huge plazas where people would

come visiting, partake
of these sacred plants,

and do these sacred dances.

>> The whirling dervishes in
the Sufic traditions created

by the 13th century poet Rumi
would twirl or spin in circles

for extended periods of time.

Even children are known to spin
in circles until they cannot

stand anymore.

"Ring Around the Rosie"
and merry-go-rounds

are other examples of children's
love for the sensation

that twirling brings about.

In the film "Dance
and Human History,"

we are shown that
each of the earliest

and untouched traditions
around the world

include dance styles
that correlate

with the types of tools
they used for daily labor,

such as linear, one-dimensional
dance where wooden tools were

used, twisting or
two-dimensional when metallurgy

was prominent, and even
three-dimensional dances

in areas near waterways.

And the common theory of
the purpose for these dances

are to revere daily chores
and natural elements as sacred

and to achieve
psychedelic-like states.

>> The Kalahari Bushmen
in Southern Africa achieve

an equally powerful altered
state of consciousness

by dancing for 24 hours around
the fire and becoming deeply

dehydrated and falling into
a rhythmic trance-like state.

And in that trance-like
state, they then have visions,

and that, it turns
out, is what is

being painted on the cave
walls and in the rock shelters.

It's the visions
of ancient shamans.

So they enter the deeply
altered state of consciousness,

either through a rhythmic
dance or some other technique

or through consuming a plant
psychedelic, most often

the latter.

They enter a deeply altered
state of consciousness.

They experience visions.

They experience encounters
with supernatural beings

as they construe them.

Those supernatural beings
may communicate with them

telepathically.

This is very common in
the shamanistic trance.

They may give them teachings.

And very often, they'll have
a therianthropic appearance.

They will be part
animal and part human.

>> How was it that these rituals
helped early cultures commune

with ancestors or beings
from another realm?

Some believe that
humanity currently

operates from a
limited bandwidth,

only seeing what we
are prepared to see.

These dances, rhythmic drumming,
and psychedelic plants all

have one major
component in common--

they deactivate
the communication

between regions of
the brain that hold us

in our behavioral patterns.

Once these regions go
offline, the human experience

opens up to new patterns,
and we no longer

need to be prepared to
see in order to truly see.

But communing with
other worldly beings

is just one effect of
these expanded states.

The health of communities
improves with ritual,

as seen in the study of
psychoneuroimmunology.

>> The concept of
psychoneuroimmunology emerged

in the 1970s, when researchers
started to recognize that how

people thought not only
affected how they felt,

but it also affected the
neurotransmitter systems.

And depending on what
the emotional state was,

those neurotransmitter
systems could either

be elicited to enhance
our immune functioning

or to compromise it.

The simplest example is stress.

If you view the world as
being a threatening place,

you fear the world, this
releases stress hormones,

and the stress
hormones compromise

the optimal functioning
of the immune system.

So by using, for
instance, ritual

to change people's
attitude, to get

them to focus on the
positive things in life,

this is not just
emotional in the brain,

it's emotional biologically.

Your neurotransmitter
soup changes.

And if you get connected
with other people,

this starts to elicit
the release of lots

of different positive
hormones in the body that

can enhance the functioning
of the immune system.

So we might say
it's just a ritual.

So it may just be a trick,
but the trick works.

>> The emerging understanding
that what what we act out

through our body actually
changes hormonal,

and even neural functioning,
has been backed up by even more

evidence in the past century.

In the well-known story
of Norman Cousins,

he used laughter
in order to recover

from a crippling
connective tissue disease.

Another example came from
an NBC article titled,

"Smiling can trick your
brain into happiness

and boost your health,"
showing that the act of smiling

triggers a chemical reaction
of dopamine and serotonin

in the brain, lowering
stress, boosting

mood and the immune system.

There are also articles showing
that Botox injections, which

use a neurotoxin to
smooth out wrinkles,

also keeps the face from being
able to express emotions.

This has been touted
as performing like

an anti-depressant, as they're
finding that if the face

can't act out a depressive
or anxious expression,

then the brain cannot maintain
the hormonal and neurochemical

recipe to trigger the inner
sensation attributed to those

emotions.

Even animals seek natural highs.

Jane Goodall has been observing
apes at Gombe, Tanzania

as they seem to seek altered
states of consciousness.

They become aroused as
they creep towards pounding

waterfalls, throwing
stones at them,

and then settling down
and swaying rhythmically

as they peer almost meditatively
into the natural wonder.

Since the dawn of cave
art, humanity's reverence

for altered states is
found nearly everywhere.

And quite possibly, one of
the oldest methods of sending

participants into states that
are identical to psychedelic

journeys is an alteration of an
act that we cannot survive more

than a few minutes without--

the breath.

>> The method I like the most
that doesn't require an actual

psychedelic substance to
induce a psychedelic state is

breathwork.

There is a lot of different
practices of breathwork,

and this is a
pretty reliable way

of engaging the
body and the breath

to induce an altered state.

And it doesn't take
that long, whereas some

of the other ways of
inducing an altered state

without medicines--

like extreme physical exertion,
or an illness, or injury,

or something like that--

isn't as adaptable
in modern society.

But we can induce an altered
state with breathwork

and have a full
experience within an hour,

hour and and a half.

To me, that makes it very
accessible for somebody

to have an altered
states practice--

a regular altered states
practice that both helps heal

the body, keeps us
grounded, helps balance

out other psychedelic
medicine use,

and it can be done
pretty regularly

to help clear that
psychic plaque that we

carry from day-to-day stress
and being rushed in the world.

>> These modalities are seen
most easily in the yogic

and Tibetan Buddhist
practices of the East.

Popularized in Western culture,
the core breath techniques

still remain in the highly
modernized forms of yoga today.

However, even newer
developments of using breath

to enhance health are seen
with Stig Severinsen's

"breatheology," Wim Hof's
"Innerfire," Buteyko breathing,

as well as many other
techniques for achieving

different outcomes.

The most popular of the
expanded states techniques

was developed by
Czech psychiatrist

and psychedelic
researcher Stanislav Grof

called holotropic breath.

After taking a break
from psychedelic studies,

he decided to write a few
books on the power of expanded

states of consciousness.

>> So I moved to Esalen,
and I was trading this house

and the food for workshops.

And I was basically
talking of what we found

in the psychedelic sessions.

And people were not
very happy with me.

They said, it's great
to hear about all

these great experiences,
but can't we do something?

Don't you have a little
stash on the side?

And I said, you know, I don't
have the license to do it.

And I think Esalen would
not be very happy with us.

But they kept asking.

So I started thinking
about what we could do.

We realized how much
can be achieved just

by such simple means
as breathing, music,

and the bodywork.

We were looking for a
good name, and we finally

came up with the name
holotropic because we

were seeing how this
experiential spectrum of people

is expanding from that
very constricted, limited

that is available in our
everyday consciousness.

So holos means whole, and
-trope or -troping means

moving towards.

Like in the name heliotrope,
is from helios, is the sun.

Heliotrope is the property of
the plant, the flower, always

oriented, going for the sun.

So it means moving
toward wholeness.

So holotropic states
are not like that.

Your intellectual functioning
is dramatically changed,

but not reduced.

It's transformed.

You can see certain
things much clearer.

You get insights about things.

Where you go inside,
and you find out

that the whole universe is
represented inside of your sky.

The whole universe
from this perspective

is coded somehow in the psyche.

It's available through
intrapsychic exploration.

And this is of
course the essence

of all the esoteric cultures.

As above, so below.

As without, so within.

So each individual
is a microcosm

that also contains
the whole macrocosm.

>> In a society hypnotized by
scientific study with the use

of external technologies,
exploration into the mysteries

of the universe using
self-observation is seen

as inaccurate and flimsy.

Answers to our most timely
questions, such as who am I?

Why am I here?

And, what am I to do?

Are given only the most
conservative answers like,

we don't know.

Or that gene hasn't
been found yet.

Speculation is frowned upon.

But psychedelic states
or natural highs

seem to push the mind
into greater curiosity,

expanded receptivity,
inner contemplation,

and wild speculation.

Those who seek altered
states of consciousness

are not doing so to
get more of the same.

They seek transformation.

People of all walks of life go
to the blazing hot and dry lake

bed of Black Rock City
for Burning Man one week

out of every year--

not to strengthen their
routines and habits,

but to dismantle them
and see beyond the veil

of their own making.

In a society touted as being
almost completely consumer

driven, people are left to use
plants, vacations, retreats,

natural, and unfortunately
not-so-natural substances

to shield their eyes and ears
from the onslaught of products

and sales gimmicks.

The Kogi people of
Columbia spend nine years

of their formative
life in darkness

in order to connect with what
they call cosmic consciousness.

Egyptians had the pyramids.

Romans used the catacombs.

And even the Essenes
in Israel are

reported to use extended
periods of darkness.

All of this to remove the
shackles of limited thinking

and liberate oneself from
the wheel of suffering.

John Chavez, author of
"Questions for the Lion Tamer,"

has pushed the speculative
envelope regarding

the role of indigenous DMT
and telepathy, lucid dreaming,

and the overall questions
of how much of our biology

we can actually control
through thoughts and actions.

Extended fasting leading
to years of inedia,

or living without food, breath
practice leading to world

records of 22 minutes
without oxygen,

breaking the four-minute
mile when doctors said it was

impossible, surviving
incurable diseases,

unbelievable feats of
strength and willpower,

all because the human
spirit seems to seek beyond

conventions and restrictions
and mostly with purpose--

to know thyself, not just
in theory but embodied.

The psychonauts
that long to witness

as much as they can on
this beautiful planet

in these amazingly
mysterious bodies

do so because the
greatest mystery of all

is right around the
corner, and this life

might be their only chance.

What truly lies on the other
shore when this body dies

is a mystery.

But glimpses into
that world have

been coming to light in the
form of near-death experiences.

And the experience is far
closer to a psychedelic journey

than one may think.

>> Michael Sabom, the
cardiologist who studied his

own patient-- he had a case
where they were operating

for a tumor which was sitting
at the base of the skull.

They had to freeze the patient.

So there was not only no
cardiogram showing anything,

but the EEG was flat.

There was no brain activity.

And yet from her they got
the most accurate perception

of this out of body perception.

She was able to describe
what they were doing.

She drew the pictures of the
surgical instruments and so on.

And you know, this
happens with not just

in these kinds of situations,
but all kinds of transpersonal

experiences mediate sort
of extrasensory perception,

becoming an animal, or
experiences from the past,

from historical events,
visiting the mythological realms

and having visions
from mythologies

that you never studied.

This is the Jungian idea of
the collective unconscious.

It is all well-documented
in psychedelic research

and confirmed by
holotropic breathwork.

So these kinds of
things, you know,

they ask for a radical revision
of psychiatry and psychology.

The most basic metaphysical
assumptions are wrong.

>> One in five people who
are resuscitated from cardiac

arrest are reported to have
a near-death experience.

Why would the process
of death bring

on such similar experiences
to psychedelic states

of consciousness?

One study by Jimo Borjigin
at the University of Michigan

has found that for about 30
seconds after rodent models'

breathing and heart stopped,
their brains increased

their neural activity, including
gamma waves in all of them.

Oddly enough, the activity in
different parts of the brain

became twice as
synchronized as when awake.

Cognitive Neuroscientists
John Kounios and Mark Beeman

found in their
research that what

we would term as
an aha moment has

direct correlations with gamma
wave bursts in the brain.

These bursts happen when
brain centers fire together

that have never done
so before, giving rise

to a newly integrated and
higher level of insight.

One hypothesis popularized
by Dr. Rick Strassmann

got the world thinking about
why the psychedelic compound

DMT is produced in the body
and congregates in the brain.

While the evidence of DMT being
released in dying brains is

still in question, an
article published by Juan

Acosta-Urquidi reports that
both 5-MeO and N,N-DMT caused

widespread cortical
hyper-coherence in the gamma

wave region.

While this is not
definitive proof,

Rick Strassmann gives
an insight as to why

dying brains might release DMT.

>> To protect the
body, number one,

and to kind of begin the
movement of consciousness out

of a more body-grounded state,
which occurs when you take DMT,

is you lose awareness
of your body.

So I think it would
be protective.

There are some data
from Hungary which

indicate that DMT
is what is called,

you know, neuroprotective
in conditions of low levels

of oxygen in the brain.

Which means that if
you're not providing

your brain with enough oxygen,
your nerve cells begin to die.

And DMT seems to
inhibit the bad effect

of a low level of oxygen.
It protects the brain

against low oxygen levels.

And that's why the
DMT theoretically

is being released.

So it would be important to
demonstrate that either DMT is

increased by stress.

Or if you could demonstrate
that DMT was increased

at the time of death, then it
would be a pretty good picture

that would be completed.

You would have the low
oxygen, which is a stress.

And if that increased
DMT, then you'd

have more DMT around
to help with respect

to neuroprotection.

>> While Chemist and Psychedelic
Researcher David Nichols does

not believe DMT is the most
important chemical that is

present at the time of death, he
does express the neurochemical

dump that the brain
produces during high stress

and near-death experiences.

>> That was a topic that I
addressed at the Breaking

Convention talk recently.

And it was interesting
because one of the people

there was named Jimo Borjigin.

She is at University of
Michigan Medical School.

They looked at
brain transmitters.

And what they said was when you
cause cardiac arrest, you get--

and this is her word--

a brain storm of chemicals.

She saw dramatic increases
in norepinephrine, dopamine,

serotonin release.

And that may be actually
what's driving the increased

activation, the EEG coherence.

But then what I said was,
well, in addition to that,

we know that under
times of stress, people,

their brains
generate endorphins,

endogenous
morphine-like compounds.

So people that, say they're
long-distance runners,

it's well known that they
run, and run, and run,

and they get to a
point where it becomes

too painful to run any further.

And then they get a second
wind and they keep going.

That's actually
releasing endorphins.

So now you've got increased
norepinephrine, increased

serotonin, increased
dopamine, probably increased

dynorphin release,
other enkephalins,

increased glutamate.

You've got this whole literally
brainstorm of chemicals.

Why do you need to talk
about traces of DMT?

You know, it doesn't
make any sense.

So that was an
argument I presented.

We don't need to
invoke something

where it is just
speculation, when we've

got all these things
that we know happen,

that we know are released, that
we know are neurotransmitters.

>> Perhaps psychonauts often
speculate about what is not yet

proven because this is merely
the collective genius at work.

Theories are proven
and disproven daily,

and some are resurrected
for further review.

Most people prior to
the early modern period

believed that the
stars and planets

revolved around the Earth.

Most people more than
a few centuries ago

knew nothing of
what microbes were.

50 years ago, we
had no knowledge

that the human body could
produce the most radical

psychedelic compound.

And 50 years from
now, we'll likely

know much more than we
could ever dream of today.

Speculation should
never supersede

the scientific method.

Yet Einstein reportedly arrived
at his most amazing discovery

in the relaxing mind frame
of a shower, not the lab.

Steve Jobs says
psychedelics gave him

one of the most important
moments of his life.

And co-discoverer of the DNA
double helix, Francis Crick,

was on a mild
psychedelic journey

when he made his discovery.

And whether or not DMT is
the prime neurotransmitter

during near-death
experiences, even what

Dr. Nichols' reports shows
just how incredible it

is to have a pharmacy just
beneath our skin that floods

the body with mind
altering substances

in the presence of
high stress situations.

In 1990, Dr. Kasamatsu
and Dr. Hirai

conducted a study on a
group of Buddhist monks

in which they took a
three-day voyage to a mountain

in extreme cold
weather, no food, water,

or communication of any kind.

After the second day, the
monks began seeing and feeling

the presence of ancestors
and other beings.

It was found that increased
amounts of serotonin

began flooding the brain.

Serotonin is exactly
what psychedelics mimic.

Even a modern rendition
of Tibetan tummo yoga

has been crafted by Wim
Hof in the Netherlands.

His breathing method has
created much of a buzz

because it has been
scientifically shown

that he can withstand
submerging himself up

to his neck in ice
water for eight

hours with perfect alertness
and core temperature that

not only stabilized, but even
increased during the test.

This breathing technique has
been shown to dramatically

boost immunity in the face
of E. coli infections,

for himself and his students.

>> You feel the
adaptation right on.

I can see it.

[BREATHING]

That's good.

Now you can look at
it, contemplate on it.

>> As well as produce
experiences that have been

explained as nearly identical
to psilocybin mushrooms, or DMT,

could it be possible that
these substance-free methods

of dumping neurochemical
cocktails into the system are

not simply ways to get high,
but that normal consciousness is

filtered heavily by our default
brain activity and that these

practices and their ensuing
neurotransmitters unlock that

filter, allowing for us to see
and feel more of the real world

that exists all around us?

Is this what yogis
and mystics alike

have been seeking with spiritual
practices for thousands

of years, the soma within or
divine ambrosia in the body?

Perhaps it's important
to ask ourselves,

once the astonishment of states
of psychedelica are not so new,

then what is the point?

Is it to see visuals
and feel peculiar?

Or are those merely the
sensations associated

with stepping out of
the conventional box

of consciousness in order to
access more of what we truly

are, what we are truly meant
to witness in this life?

Perhaps this is the real
purpose of psychedelic plants,

not simply to use
substances to tune out,

but to move past the temporary
tickle of the body and peek

beyond the veil of illusion.

For when the top-down opinions
and the rhetoric of culture

are carefully examined,
all that is left to do

is to remain open to love.

What happens when the
mind becomes still

in the knowledge that you are
the real and only medicine

that this beautiful
planet needs?

There is only one way to find
out, and that way is within.